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Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society: Mortgages reviews

4.73
Based on 93 reviews, last reviewed 20th Dec 2024
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Latest highest rating:

5

Additional borrowing. Excellent mortgage consultant. We needed to borrow some additional money to finish the self-build that had been completed using a Suffolk/ Ipswich self-build loan. Stephen (Lye) was... Read more Reviewed on: 20th December 2024
Peter N's avatar
Peter N

Latest lowest rating:

1

Beware false promises from this lender! We were pre-approved for a loan, which was a 35% loan to value purchase. With our large down payment and small loan we felt comfortable making an offe... Read more Reviewed on: 12th August 2024
Valerie R's avatar
Valerie R

About this product

Buying a home is an exciting time in anyone’s life, but finding the right mortgage product can be daunting. We collect Suffolk Building Society mortgage reviews to help you make an informed decision when choosing a mortgage lender.

Suffolk Building Society is an independent mutual building society, offering a range of mortgage products. Always be confident with the terms, conditions and interest rates of a product. Consult the lender or an independent advisor if you need help understanding your options.

If you’re considering a mortgage with Suffolk Building Society, check out the reviews on Smart Money People. Read genuine experiences to gain valuable insight into the lender. Find out which mortgage products customers have taken out and how satisfied they have been throughout the term. Learn more about Suffolk Building Society’s customer service and the benefits you can receive as a member. All of this and more can be found in our Suffolk Building Society mortgage reviews.

Did Suffolk Building Society help you purchase your dream home? Share your experience with others by writing an honest Suffolk Building Society mortgage review. Tell us about the application process: did the Society support you throughout it? Did you find the application easy to understand? Has the Society kept you up to date with any important mortgage news or changes? Would you recommend Suffolk Building Society to family and friends? Write a review today. Together, we can help people like you make better financial decisions.

Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society Mortgages reviews (93)

Review of the Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society, Mortgages:

Beware false promises from this lender!

1
We were pre-approved for a loan, which was a 35% loan to value purchase. With our large down payment and small loan we felt comfortable making an offer on a home we liked and expected a fairly simple closing process. Then we were told the parameters of our loan had changed despite already being pre-approved. We agreed to the change, though it put a bit of strain on us. Now, we believed we could proceed, but after foot dragging by the lender, once again they changed the terms, and once again we reluctantly found a way to make it work. And then, after all our capitulations, we found out that our loan was denied on a technicality we had never been made aware of. So we have a contract with no lending secured after weeks thinking that approval was already somewhat assured. We feel deceived and cheated out of precious time which might result in us losing our contract on our purchase and out the fees we incurred from this lender and our solicitors. Reviewed on: 12th August 2024
Reply from Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society Hi Valerie, we are sorry that our services have not met your expectations. Please can you get in touch with us on [email protected] or 0330 123 0723 so we can discuss the matter further with you. Response date: 19th August 2024
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Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society

Best Mortgages

5
We have had a mortgage with Suffolk Building Society formerly Ipswich Building Society for over 25 years. The society are friendly and always provide a very personal service. The information they provide is clear and the staff are always on hand to answer any questions. The society is local and I would not hesitate to recommend to others Reviewed on: 7th February 2023

Efficient and friendly

5
We have three mortgages with the Suffolk and each year have contact with the mortgage team regarding various matters , they are always friendly and efficient in resolving matters. Reviewed on: 7th February 2023

Remortgages

5
Staff are always helpful and offer individualised solutions. Maximum efficiency when implementing offers. Great online operation. Reviewed on: 7th February 2023

Pro

5
The Society with outstanding people skills. Reviewed on: 7th February 2023

High rates, crazy termination clauses and difficult to deal with

2
We have found the Society difficult to deal with, you can’t do anything online, very slow at communicating, lots of errors in communications (like the wrong dates on mortgage statement) and the fees they have are extremely high in comparison to market rates. Reviewed on: 7th February 2023
Reply from Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society Thank you for taking the time to bring your concerns to our attention. We are very sorry to hear about your recent experience with us. This is certainly not the service we strive for and we're sorry we didn't meet your expectations. Please be assured that we have conducted a full internal review following the mortgage statement error, after recognising and rectifying this as soon as possible for members. If you would like to discuss any specific issues further please do email us at [email protected]. Response date: 9th February 2023
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Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society

Excellent People and Company.

5
Two years ago I applied for a mortgage with the then Ipswich Building Society now Suffolk Building Society. It was a thorough process but at all times I was kept properly informed by the person who was handling the application. I felt this person knew exactly what she was doing. At all times she was polite and pleasant to deal with. My application was successful. I would thoroughly recommend the Suffolk Building Society. It is a much more personal service, the people are very nice. Reviewed on: 7th February 2023

Delightful, considerate and human building society

5
We took out a mortgage on our house to help children get on the property ladder and have found Ipswich now Suffolk Building Society a friendly, professional and human organisation - just like building societies and banks used to be but so few are these days. A great team of people. Reviewed on: 25th November 2022

Efficient and friendly

5
Every time I’ve called I’ve always got to speak to someone straight away which is unusual for most mortgage companies who have huge waiting times. Suffolk are virtually instant even in a busy mortgage crisis period. Another huge plus is that it’s always been a British person I’ve spoken to who’s easy to understand. I find that a big proportion of financial institutions employ people who are hard to understand with heavy accents. I think this company is so good I will be moving my other buy to let’s over to them as soon as is viable. Reviewed on: 26th October 2022

Pleasant people to deal with, but unnecessarily slow.

4
It took too long to finalise, which held up completion; so by the time it did the rate had increased noticeably, done in a speedier time-frame, (very do-able) it would have been at the original quote, around a hundred pounds a month cheaper. The people are all helpful and friendly. Reviewed on: 19th October 2022
Reply from Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society Thank you for your review and we are sorry to read your understandable disappointment with our timeframes. In recent months the mortgage market has faced unprecedented demand, resulting in the Society receiving a large volume of mortgage enquiries, and applications, during a short space of time. We took swift action to address this but, regrettably, we naturally found our service times increasing – we know this is far from ideal. Thank you for your comments about our staff and we are pleased you were provided with a good service. Response date: 20th October 2022
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Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society

WORST MORTAGE COMPANY...

1
In my personal and financial career spanning over 40 years, this is the WORST organisation that I have ever had the misfortune to be involved with. They are inefficient, poor-quality staff, take time to make decisions (many weeks), constantly going back and forth mostly on nit-picking matters (why not ask all or any questions early on / up-front?). I am a credible person, no financial issues and approved mortgage in principle. But they and the surveyor constantly mess around. Also, if they have issues with expats, then they should get out of that part of the business. So much stress for me and my broker, waisted my money on costs, and my time. People do not deserve to be treated this way, and they don’t care! As a consequence of what I have been through with them, I have given up on a future retirement in UK and changed my plan and not go back home to where I was brought up in Cornwall. Keep away from them and go to another mortgage company. Reviewed on: 6th June 2022
Reply from Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society Thank you for your review and we are very sorry to hear about your recent experience with us. This is certainly not the service we strive for, so we are very disappointed to hear we did not meet our, or your, expectations. Please be assured that we are conducting an internal review so we can learn what went wrong and how we can improve our service. Response date: 7th June 2022
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Suffolk Building Society, formerly Ipswich Building Society

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